Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme of the Government continues to be popular with foreign tourists. It registered a growth of 22.9 percent during June, 2013 as compared to June, 2012. During the month, a total number of 1,062 VoAs were issued as compared to 864 during June, 2012.
The following are the other important highlights of VoAs issued during June, 2013:
(i) During the period January to June 2013, a total number of 9,328 VoAs were issued as compared to 6,721 VoAs during corresponding period of 2012 registering a growth of 38.8%.
(ii) The number of VoAs issued under this scheme during June 2013 for nationals of the eleven countries were Japan (275), Indonesia (208), the Philippines (171), New Zealand (171), Singapore (152), Finland (44), Myanmar (15), Vietnam (14), Laos (5), Cambodia (4) and Luxembourg (3).
(iii) The number of VoAs issued under the Scheme during January to June 2013 were Japan (3,285), New Zealand (1,657), Indonesia (1,281), the Philippines (1,231), Singapore (1,014), Finland (559), Vietnam (96), Luxembourg (71), Cambodia (67), Myanmar (57) and Laos (10).
(iv) During the period January to June 2013, the highest number of VoAs were issued at Delhi airport (5,362) followed by Mumbai (1,970), Chennai (1,369) and Kolkata (627).
As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, the Government launched the “Visa on Arrival” (VoA) Scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries, viz. Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes. The Scheme was extended to the citizens of six more countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar in January 2011.